Sword Art Online - I'm a 100 Completionist
by TerminalIdiot
Summary: We all know the story of the Black Swordsman and his exploits in Aincrad. A very brave conquest of freedom, discovery, and promise. But this story I'm about to tell you is slightly different. Because this is the story of the All Rounder, and his small band of hardcore misfits.
1. Prologue

**September 2022**

My brother and I were eating a lunch of fish and fried potatoes at home, both of us taking a break from our mind-numbing ordeal all morning.

We just finished a four hour resource grind on our favourite MMORPG on our consoles, playing on separate consoles in our shared room.

"Do you have enough steel to build that module for your ship yet?" John asked me as I wolfed down another potato.

I shrugged as I swallowed, before answering. "Not sure, to be honest. I was kinda on autopilot, thinking about something else."

He tilted his head sideways, as if to say 'alright, cool'. He does that, nonverbal communication. John says it's more honest when no words are shared and feelings are being used to convey messages instead.

And he also says to keep my guard up by not showing potential threats my intentions.

Quite contradictory, right?

"So," John probed, "what are you thinking about?"

I just squinted my eyes pointedly at him as I speared a piece of fish with my fork. He knows why, he can read me like a book.

He smiled, "You're thinking about Sword Art."

"I mean what kind of respectable gamer wouldn't?" I exclaimed. "They finally announced a game that fully utilizes the potential of Virtual Reality and the NerveGear. And it's only limited to the first ten thousand copies?! I mean what?" My fork and knife raised in the palms of my hands in incredulity.

He calmly pointed at my right hand with the knife, a signal for me to lower it. "I understand your excitement. When we were drilling in the Army, an entire obstacle course and firing range, complete with FUNCTIONING ordnance. All in Virtual Reality..."

Then we moved back to our room and resumed our routine, grinding on the looter shooter game on our consoles, all the while talking about his experiences in the American Army and their joint Military Drills with the Japanese Self-Defence Force.

After a while of silent continuous clicking I spoke up, a hint of sadness in my voice and the barest sign of a frown on my face. "That's not the only thing John."

"I know Bro." he said, placing a hand on my shoulder nearest to him. "I'm gonna deploy again soon. And I won't get to see you for several months."

_But I was looking forward to another Airsoft match with him, I wanted to show him my newest set of medieval armor for my Live Action Roleplay. I wanted to to so many things with the only member of my family left._

_But I knew that he also had a duty. To serve and protect innocents as a soldier, like our parents and theirs before them. 'We are a family of soldiers' my dad once said. So I shouldn't let my personal greed come in the way of giving others a chance._

John suddenly clapped my shoulder, "Hey! While I'm gone I'll let you use my NerveGear."

My eyes widened and a smile cracked across my face. "I'll get to play SAO? Nice! Thanks man!"

"Of course," he said in a sullen manner. "you only keep me around for my money and my gadgets. Greedy peice of shit."

"Narcissistic asshole."

"Insolent twat."

We laughed together, and braced for the last all-nighter before my brother returns to the Army.

* * *

**November 6, 2022**

Sword Art Online is AMAZING!

_The world is so realistic!_ I can feel the breeze on my hair, the pull of my clothes and armor as I move, and the feeling of soil and rocks under my boots.

I've been here for all of two moments and I'm already hooked. _Thanks so much Bro!_

He was also kind enough to leave a copy of all he was able to gather from the Beta testing phase. I've been studying his guide for months now.

John says it has all the info for the first five floors, and the complete map of the sixth floor. It also came with tips for fighting and where to get the best rewards and loot.

And I spent five hours this morning planning for my skills. Turns out there are some skills that I want that have prerequisites, and there's no way I'd be able to get all of my desired fantasy loadout.

Considering the fact that I want to be as close as possible to an iconic white haired monster slayer, the absence of magic will be a problem. But I could still use a Two-Handed Longsword alongside Alchemy to make potions and bombs, so I can't complain. It'd be close enough.

Or how about the assassin with the white hood? A stealth build using knives, of the throwing variety too if I can help it, and of course alchemy. Bombs and smoke are indispensable in this build.

By the time lunch rolled by, I was reciting the lootdrops and enemy behaviors that I've memorized.

Do I seem like a tryhard? I can't say I disagree with you, I LARP as a hobby. I cover all of my bases.

Plus I've been gaming for the majority of my 16 years on Earth. Courtesy of my brother.

12:30 noontime. I was cramming the map locations. First Floor, main settlement Starting City. Its the location of the Black Citadel, where players respawn after dying. There are several quests for decent weapons all over, sadly the sword I'm aiming for has prerequisites to be met, not to mention on another floor, so I'll have to stick to the starting weapon for a while. Second Floor...

13:00 rolled by and I finished the calibrations with great excitement, trepidation, and regret. Excitement because I'm finally DOING THIS! Trepidation because I wasn't entirely sure I'm ready to be blown away without all my facts covered. And regret because my brother isn't around to experience this with me.

"LINK START"

All at once, my senses melted, to be replaced by the sensation of falling and cold water flowing at the same time. Several prompts appeared, checking the functionality of my virtual senses.

When that was finished, I was sent to a character creation screen, which I breezed through to produce a tall lithe figure with long purple hair styled to be swept back. I couldn't see my face, but I dont really care for that. Not much change really, it must have been my brother's avatar and we have the same tastes.

And as soon as I finished, a text box appeared which asked for my In Game Name. The name currently filled in was TerminalGenius.

_Yup, definitely my brother_. He has a gift in computers and gadgets. So, to preserve his honor just in case I suck and sully his reputation, I typed in my IGN as TerminalIdiot.

_There, that's me._

After literally seconds of standing in place admiring the center of the Town of Beginnings, I immediately set to a casual run headed for a weapons shop.

Let's see, from the center courtyard we go southeast, then hang a left and straight down. There should be a wagon displaying discount bastard swords and partial-plate mail.

When I arrived the NPC waved at me. I hesitated for a split second before I waved back. "Good afternoon! Mind if I take a look at your wares?"

We then had a light conversation regarding weapon preferences and tiers, but as we were talking another topic was running in my head.

_Do NPCs talk with a script? If I say something totally unrelated to the NPC's function, do they respond to the question? Or do they have a scripted response of confusion?_

Either way, I decided not to probe and bought my armor. Instantly equipping it through my inventory.

"Huh." I mused to myself as I tested my movement range. It doesn't impede my movements at all, I could even hug myself .

Being a gambeson, the thick cloth jacket which I now wore underneath my starting armor was comfortable enough. The thick padding will protect me from most weak slashing and piercing type attacks, although its all but useless to blunt weapons.

My mind drifted to my LARP experiences with plate armor and enemy weapons when another person arrived at my side. The green cursor above his head marking him as a player.

He was several inches shorter than me, and a blue tunic instead of my deep grey. His hair was in the same style as mine, but black compared to my white. And his face was handsome enough to be made in this one popular gaming studio.

He looked up at me, and waved a hand. "Hey Terminal. Good to see you made it."

The new person was speaking to me in japanese, so it took me a bit to translate it in my head. My mothertongue is english, but I can also proudly say that I am very proficient in japanese as well. I've grown up here after all.

I blinked before giving a wave as well. He must have known my brother from the Beta. "Sorry but you have the wrong person."

"I-I'm sorry! My bad!" he replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's not a problem." I said in a placating manner. "You're not entirely wrong, you must mean someone called TerminalGenius?"

The black-haired boy nodded as he visibly relaxed.

Pointing a finger to my chest I introduced myself. "I'm his brother, TerminalIdiot. A strange choice of words I know, but he really was a genius."

"I see." was his reply as he bought his own one-handed sword and it's scabbard, which he strapped to his back.

I idly wondered if it was practical to position it there but who was I to judge?

"You're a beta tester?" I asked casually as I bought my own Two-Handed Longsword and it's wooden scabbard, which I just held with my left hand.

"Yes." he replied, and as a testament to his intelligence he also answered my unspoken question. "Your brother was a good player in the Beta. He was the one who mapped floors accurately."

"So I've learned." I said with a light laugh. "He's very thorough like that."

He nodded in agreement before asking, "Do you need any help?"

"No need. But thank you for offering." I replied with a slight bow. "My brother left me some notes which I've memorized. Ive got the start all mapped out!"

A flicker of doubt crossed his features for an instant before he shook his head and gestured for us to start walking. "So you already know where to go?"

I nodded. "I'm headed to the plains to the east to farm. Then I'll head to the next town to take up some Hunt quests."

"You're confident in the motions already?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged with a grin as a response.

Shaking his head qith an amused expression, he turned the other way. "Okay then. See you around TerminalIdiot."

"Call me Exin, and you?"

"Kirito!" he said in lieu of a farewell and a wave.

I turned and ran the opposite way as well, a somewhat straight line towards the gates of the Starting City.

My heart was full of optimism and anticipation towards all the loot I could possibly get, the experiences I am gonna have, and the people that I'm gonna meet. Not exactly in that order.

Remembering to fasten my sword and its sheath on my left hip, I also remembered to equip my Skills.

I selected [Two-Handed Longsword] for my combat skill. Normally I would have gone for the One-Handed Sword, but I'd need to grind for such high levels to get the [Bastard Sword] Skill because of its versatility. Unlike most Sword Skill Types, where the player is limited to one method of holding their weapons, the Bastard Sword Skill actually has two. Light and Heavy hits.

Light hits are supposedly a One-Handed style, where one's main hand alone would wield the blade. This makes for fast sweeping slashes and abrupt thrusts. Heavy hits on the other hand, of you'll pardon the pun, utilizes both main and off hands. The main hand would be closer to the hilt of the blade, whereas the off hand would be towards the pommel.

Now I am aware that LARP and Sword Art Online are different things, and thus obviously have differences when it comes to the finer points. But the game creators had to have learned from somewhere, right?

Now, where was I... Ah yes.

Longsword in hand, I jogged towards the nearest group of mobs I could find. Which was just relatively close, considering most players were still completing their loadout in the town.

Once I was close enough to the nearest monster, it noticed me immediately.

"Ah..."

The Frenzy Boar snorted loudly, but didn't charge yet. It was giving me a chance to strike first. _Level one, what can I say._

_Alright, let's see how I'd fare._

Gripping my sword with both hands, I swung downwards once on the boar's head before backing up. The animal squealed and charged me, but it was far enough away that I could sidestep from it easily.

As it rushed by me, I looked at its health gauge. The green was was slightly shorter than before, but only just. Less than five percent.

_I might as well be fighting a boss at this rate. Let's try a combo._

I eased into my tried and tested memories and attacked. I lunged forward, thrusting the point of the sword into the boar, before twisting it and flicking outwards. The boar retaliated by trying to catch my sword between its tusks, but I pulled back and tried to go for a lunge again. But suddenly the blade of my longsword glowed red as it streaked forward, straight through the boar and behind it for a meter, bringing me along with it. I froze in surprise for an instant as the sound of breaking glass was heard, signifying the death of my quarry.

Looking behind me in surprise before raising the tip of my sword in front of me, I realized that I must have accidentally triggered a Sword Skill. _Definitely much more efficient._

Smirking to myself, I ran on. Headed towards a clearing where I knew the Frenzy Boars would spawn. It was nowhere close to the Town of Beginnings, about five kilometers northwest.

I was also practicing my Sword Skills on my way there. And by practicing I mean stopping by every single mob I could find and killing them with a sword skill or two.

_This is so much fun!_

I arrived at the spawning grounds a little before 16:00, and my 'training run' which was quite literally 'mass murder of local fauna' made me lose a significant amount of Health Points, placing me smack in the middle of the Orange zone. So, I drank two Health Potions, despite the unfortunate taste.

_Definitely going for Alchemy. _I thought as I stared at the now empty vial. Keeping the thought for later, I tossed the used vial as it shattered into polygons of light.

Twirling my sword around my body, I counted the potential prey in my surroundings. Sixteen Frenzy Boars, quite easy so long as I fight them one by one. Plus a pack of Dire Wolves sulking in the shadows ahead.

Confidently cracking my neck and striding forwards, I smirked to myself as I prepared to slaughter trash mobs that might as well be walking cash to me.

_This game is so much fun!_

* * *

**Hello! And welcome to my first attempt at writing a Sword Art Online fanfic! (hopefully I can actually finish this one)****As is quite obvious this is a Self-Insert Fanfic starring my very own OC. I'll try my best at making him as realistic as possible without being overpowered as heck or making him a Gary Stu.****What I'm aiming for him is to be a combination of Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher series) and Ezio Audittore (Assassin's Creed series).****Please follow, review, and maybe fave it if I can be greedy.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Of course, why not?

**Chapter 1: Of course, why not?**

**November 6, 2022. 16:25**

**First Floor, Aincrad**

Well, shit.

_Well, shit._

That was the thought that repeated in my head as I hightailed it out of the central courtyard. Nearly everybody was panicking after that announcement, those who don't obviously have a destination in mind.

Those people have strong hearts, being able to ground themselves at the moment and choose to fight to change for a better future. One can probably call them the 'Hero types.' They'll aim to be stronger so that they can fight and clear the game, despite the danger and evident threat of death. Although the fact that death by means of Virtual Game was still quite an absurd idea.

The people who are moving are either strong or maybe they have a couple of problems in the head.

Dunno, I am unwilling to think about that at the moment.

I shook my head to clear at least some of the noise in there as I passed through the West Gates of the Town of Beginnings. The sun was setting, as is fading light washed a deep red onto the canopies of the forest in front of me. Including me of course.

Looking down at myself, I remembered from less than an hour ago as an Item known as the Hand Mirror changed my avatar.

The first thing I noticed then was my hair, formerly purple-colored locks stylized in protagonist fashion. Now it was a length of black hair that would have reached my shoulders if it weren't tied back in a ponytail, but I left my bangs where they were. _Why not? It's cool. _My red eyes were changed to a normal looking brown, with copper flecks here and there. My stature had changed as well. I no longer had a lean muscular adult figure that could enamor any female that saw me, kind of like a Korean pop star. Now I had the build I have normally, athletic but nowhere near-adult.

In other words, I look exactly like I do in real life.

_Kayaba must really be pushing the realism factor. Another reason why I shouldn't be complacent. _I can understand why a lot of people refuse to believe that the Death in this game is real and permanent. Nobody wants to be a prisoner

The sun had fully set now, and I clutched my longsword in my hands vertically on the right side of my head, ready to swing when I am attacked. And I say WHEN because I know a pack of Dire Wolves were stalking me at this moment.

I keep moving forward, to avoid being fully surrounded and to at least cover some distance while I wait for the mobs to attack. The tall grass rustled around me, I can hear at least three separate sources, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were four or five of them.

Suddenly the rustling to my left stopped and I instantly swept my left foot backward and swung my sword, perfectly striking the pouncing wolf at its neck. The blow sent it crashing to the ground and I immediately ran it through before putting my guard up again.

Two wolves emerged from the grasses snarling with saliva dripping from bared teeth. They moved in front of me, the first stopped just to my right and the other to my left.

And the moment they moved to pounce I shifted the sword and tightened my arms. Then the blade glowed with a green red light as the Sword Skill Crescent, a wide slash was then executed the moment the wolves leapt at me. Both beasts were hit as one was thrown away and the second flipped in midair before falling in front of me, trying to stand up again. I promptly raised the sword above my head, and it glowed red again as I beheaded the wolf with Execute.

The second wolf whimpered as it withdrew, and a second wolf howled a short distance away. The two regrouped before charging towards me, their attack a joint move to hit me while I recovered from using one Sword Skill.

I lowered the sword to my right, pointing below and away from me. My right hand gripping the hilt in a hammer grip and my left hand loosely palming the pommel. In real life, this is the Tail Guard, but here in SAO, it is the initiating motions for the Sword Skill Sweeping Serration.

The blade gleamed blue, and I leapt, intercepting the first wolf with an upwards diagonal slash and passing by it to sweep another diagonal slash from my other side. I froze for an instant in a badass pose with the longsword extended outwards to my right held in one hand, as the second wolf burst into polygons.

When I could move again I approached the last wolf which was squirming pitifully with the absence of both front legs. And I impaled it through the eyes to kill it, shattering into another shower of light.

I exhaled slowly and smiled to myself. _That was… exhilarating._

I was headed to the hillside town of Medai, ten kilometers north northwest of the Town of Beginnings, and the location of one of my objectives. The town of Horunka was to the east of here, not particularly close, but it was worthwhile to keep track of where I was even without opening up my map. My goal in Medai was to contact a travelling merchant who would be peddling potions beside a stone house. That merchant was important for a quest on the 3rd floor.

The whole trip to Medai was… eventful, to say the least. Lots of mobs were prowling around the path, hiding behind rocks and trees, in the tall grass, and even some just outright charging me. The second and only other skill I have was Hiding, which was very useful whenever I needed to get a Stealth Attack bonus on an enemy.

So I established a pattern for myself. I'd walk forward at a normal pace, sword out and guard up of course. And then crouch to and hide to wait for the mobs to walk by. I'd hit the more powerful one with a sword skill first before turning my attention towards the rest. If they find me first I'll just skip the hiding part and go to the stabby portion of the pattern. Rinse and repeat.

When I arrived at the town it was past 7. The town had a basic 'hamlet' look, despite being quite bigger. Numerous stone houses with thatched roofs and several torches here and there. There were still townsfolk milling about, either headed home to have their suppers or having late night catch up with their neighbors. I knew that the peddler was still here making the most of the night, as their voice could be heard calling loudly.

"A tincture for your maladies? A poultice for your wounds?" called an old woman gesturing at a wooden box filled with many small clay pots, bundles of dried herbs, and even bits of animals. "Please, madam?"

I slowly approached her. "Excuse me?" I called tentatively.

Immediately the old lady's green eyes lit up, and a hopeful smile came on her face. "Swordsman! What can I do for you?" Then she began excitedly pointing at her products and enumerating on what they could do, while I looked on with a nostalgic expression on my face.

Shaking away some stray thoughts, I began to choose what to buy. "I'd take four poultices for light wounds and a Health Potion."

"Four poultices," she said as she selected the items. "and a Health Potion." She passed them to me, which I received, and gave me the prices. "5 Col for a poultice and 50 Col for the potion."

Wordlessly handing her the required amount and thanking her as I walked on.

_Now I only need to come here nine more times, first thing in the evening. And then she'll give me the quest._ No, wait - _Buy the herb, and THEN ask about the quest. Yeah._

Having nothing else to do tonight, I decided to head to the woods west of this town, towards the edge of Aincrad. _I'm not entirely sure sleep is necessary anyway, I mean this is a game. Right? So my body is technically at rest right now. But then Mental fatigue is a thing, and I suppose I should know what sleep deprivation feels like so… Eh, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it._

I fell back into my established pattern in the woods. There were naturally more trees around, so it was quite fun chasing the wolves around and between trees. I had killed around twenty Dire Wolves when a pack of seven managed to hit me in my overconfidence, dropping my health down to the red. And so, after I finished off the last of that pack I decided to take a rest and heal up.

Climbing up to the highest branches of a tree nearby, I sat in a relatively comfortable position and looked at myself. There were several glowing red gashes along my arms and legs, and three long lines on my left side, where a wolf managed to slip through my guard when I wasn't fast enough to kill it.

I retrieved a couple of poultices from my inventory and applied them to my virtual injuries, and I saw that my Health Bar was filling up ever so slowly. I fount it kind of weird how getting injured here would let you feel a numb tingling sensation, which was not as bad as it was yesterday if I'm not mistaken. _Did Kayaba change some of the game settings when he trapped us here yesterday? And if so, what else did he change?_

…

Eventually, the first lights of dawn arrived, and a deep blue light started to replace the starry black of the sky that bordered the bejeweled bottom of the floor above. I had spent the majority of the night moving the poultices from one spot to another, trying to get to as many red gashes as possible. That's the thing about poultices really, low healing rate but long duration. And I'm all out of poultices now, but at least I'm back up to full health. _ Does 82% count as full? Probably. Should head back to town though, I need to sell all these Wolf Pelts._

As the sky continued to brighten, I looked at the time on my interface, 04:50. _Still pretty early, but what can I do? Body clock seems to apply here as well._

Dropping from the branches to land in a crouch on the ground, I proceeded to trek back to Medai under the light of the rising sun. The wolves that were in my path no longer seemed to be much of a challenge, their patterns already familiar to me. I did encounter a trio of Nepents, though luckily I was able to take them down one by one.

Nepents are weird waling plants with solid vines for hands and roots for what constitutes as feet. An oval dirty green body with specks of color here and there, with a pair of small leaves at the top. Oh, and I kinda forgot the toothed mouth which had no business being on a plant. _Basically a walking NOPE. And it's only been 12 hours into the game… Well, shit._

I arrived at the town two hours later, my HP in the red zone again. _But at least I'm level 3 now right? That's a win._

Relief flooded through me as I stepped through the gates of Medai. The Safe Zone status allowing me to slowly regain my health passively, at the same rate of a poultice I noticed.

Stretching my body and cracking my neck, I let out a sigh and began heading for the general store. Looking around at the streets, I noted that there still weren't any players here. Understandable since I skipped a town as I traveled here.

This morning's order of business before I return to Grinding: sell wolf pelts, buy a new weapon, replenish healing supplies, and check bounties.

Bounties are very convenient side quests put out by NPCs in need. They give a decent amount of rewards and EXP, plus they can be done at the same time as you grind. Efficient. Plus they replenish every day.

And sometimes one can also find the more looked after quests in the entire floor. There are the side quests that replenish once a week, and there are also the Secret Quests. Secret Quests are quests that are not the easiest to find. You actually have to interact with a special NPC in need to even get the Quest Prompt, if you can find them.

There are four on this floor. A quest from a worried mother on Horunka which rewards you with a one-handed sword, one in the floating plateaus which reward you with a cloak, and two in Medai. Actually the second secret quest in Medai, which was the old peddler, moves from town to town if nobody approaches her. The set quest for this town is for a Two-Handed Axe, so I'm not particularly interested in that.

Later, as I walked out of the general store after selling off most of the pelts I almost bumped into a short figure in a brown coat. A quick glance upwards told me that this person was a player as well.

"Ah, sorry! My mistake, I didn't notice you there" I apologized immediately, no need to antagonize another person in a game that could hypothetically kill you.

The person in front of me didn't react at first, she just stood there and observed me. She was a petite girl around my age, if not younger. With short light brown hair and a cloak, but her most prominent features were the six painted whiskers on her face.

"There ya go again Termi-kun~! Jabbing about my height again~." The girl said with a smirk and an overly familiar manner. "But I gotta say, you're looking good~! Not entirely too different from your avatar, except for the hair and eyes~. It's always surprising how different a person's avatar is to their real selves~. I still find it funny how the majority of female players from yesterday are actually overweight men~. Nyahaha"

She talks with a weird accent, different from the Japanese that I'm used to, but still within my ability to understand. She also seems to be very familiar towards me, or rather to who she thinks I am. "Come Termi-kun~. We have work to do~." Was what she said as she grabbed my hand before I could form a reply.

"Wait miss, I think You have the wrong person." I told her as I was dragged by such a small person through the still barren early morning streets.

She gave me an incredulous look before slowing down and releasing my hand. 'No way~!" she said with a shake of her brown hair, "My information is always right~! Especially if I gathered them myself~. I've seen you before you changed you know~? Nobody can mistake your white and purple hair Termi-kun~."

_How do I explain this, she's not wrong but at the same time she also is? Maybe I'll just tell her._

I blinked before opening my menu and tapping a few times to send her a friend request but stopped when I realized that I didn't get her name. "Sorry, but I didn't get your name."

"Argo." She said plainly. It seems that she's now realizing the fact that I'm really not the person she was expecting because her head was now tilted at a slight angle.

"Argo, like Jason's ship?" I said as I typed it in and sent her the request. "Its a nice name."

A screen popped in front of Argo and she looked at it for a second before giving an awkward smile and softly knocking her head sideways. "Oh my bad, my bad~. Sorry about that TerminalIdiot, I really thought you were my friend~. You looked so similar you see, and you even have the same mannerisms~. Sorry~!"

I raised a hand in a placating manner as I laughed in relief, "No it's not a problem. You see, TerminalGenius is my brother. And so I used his NerveGear to log in here."

We both continued the amicable conversation while avoiding the delicate topic of our situation. The two of us walked around the town, talking about our mutual experiences with my brother. Turns out the two of them have worked closely together in the beta, gathering as much data as they could about as many things as they could.

Argo was, and currently is, an information broker. She gathers intel about just anything she gets wind of, then catalogs the said information. Which would then be distributed for a price. Of course.

John, on the other hand, was called The Mapper. He has the complete map data of floors 1 through 6 and had already mapped out a good portion of floor 7 when the beta ended. But he has a rather devious way of doing it. He doesn't specify what a marker means. If there's a marker in a cave, it could mean any one of many things; it could be a monster nest, hidden treasure, a quest destination, a nice view, or whatever.

_Kind of mean if you ask me._ I had noticed that yesterday when I checked my map and saw that there were numerous markers on the way to Medai. I investigated them all, of course, mostly mobs but some were certain resources that I don't have the Skill to gather them, such as Mining or Foraging. _Hunting is probably a given, considering that that's literally our lives work now._

"But that's his way of letting them work for it," Argo explained. "yeah sure he'll share his map data~. But whoever gets it gotta work for what they wanna find you know~?"

But then Argo's demeanor changed. A serious expression falling on her face. "I need his help. Normally I'd leave the competition to their own devices, but when the game is trying to kill you its only natural to help each other right~"

I nodded in reply.

"I'll need everything you know," she said, manipulating her menu to look at the map. "map data, quest locations, fighting tips… Anything to make sure everyone heads out into the fight prepared, with the skill, or if not the resources to survive. I'll even pay you, but not right now because I don't have the Cor for it."

Mulling about it for a moment, I dragged a hand across my weary face before asking, "Can I trust you?"

The response of Argo the Information Broker was swift, "Of course."

Why not?

* * *

**November 15, 2022**

**First Floor, Aincrad**

Horunka was not that different compared to Medai. Same stone huts, with the same general aesthetic to the locals. _So the theme changes per floor, not necessarily per town._ I put the thought aside for later, as I approached the local smithy and the number of people increased.

Surprisingly, only half of the nearby crowd were players. And they were clustered around a stone hut on the far end of the square, opposite the smithy. They cheered as a figure emerged from the hut, holding a black sword in one hand. As the players vacated the area, relative silence and the steady sounds of a busy blacksmith can be heard once again.

I approached the shop and browsed on the weapons. There were several kinds of weapons, they were all simple ones made of steel, but undoubtedly much better than the starter equipment to be found at the Town o Beginnings. I need a replacement for my longsword, as its durability was getting low and my current grinding rate doesn't help it. But mostly due to the fact that I thought it wasn't killing enemies fast enough.

My previous grinding area used to be the roads around Medai, where there was an abundance of Dire Wolves to kill. I was even able to have all my gathered wolf hides made into equipment and a cloak. Without the wolf mask of course, because that would just be gaudy. At the moment, the animal pelt motif of my equipment was already catching some attention, as most of the players still had to make do with their starter armor.

_Too bad for them, _I thought, _winter is coming and you all are gonna freeze your butts off. The bonus Sneaking was nothing to scoff at either._

My current goal is to shift to the lake region to the northeast and grind on the beasts there. Still not much competition, there was still a small number of players as daring as the ones that are already out. Which brings us back to why I need a new weapon.

"How can I help you?" the NPC smith greeted from behind the anvil.

I raised my hand to acknowledge his call, I replied "I'd like a new sword please, a two-handed longsword. And if possible, to upgrade it as well?"

He nodded "I only sell the Steel Longsword, its the only kind I have." I nodded. "How many times would you, like it upgraded?"

Upgrading was risky past the fourth time, especially when upgrading from an NPC. For obvious reasons I doubt that there were any competent player smiths at this point of the game, so we'd have to make do. I politely gave him my answer and payment before sitting at the bench.

Turns out I was not alone, as there was a second person on the bench. A younger-looking boy with black hair and effeminate features, equipped with the starting armor and blue tunic. His scabbard rested across his thighs as he waited.

He looked at me as I got closer, or rather, he looked at the complete Armor Set. Granted it was back-breakingly tedious to get, as I had to kill dozens upon dozens of Dire Wolves to get enough pelts for even half of the set. And that's not counting the Col paid to have it made.

"Hey," I greeted with a small wave. "mind if I join you?"

"I don't mind, please." he replied politely as he gestured to the beside him on the bench.

"What was that racket earlier?" I asked in an attempt to make conversation. "They seemed very happy to get an Anneal Blade."

"Ah, that." he said with slight hesitation. "They were probably celebrating over the second successful attempt to get the blade. And if I'm not wrong, more will fall in line to get it."

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right the high demand of the quest. And, uh, sorry if I might be approaching this wrong because you sound awfully familiar. Kirito-kun?"

He looked at me with a surprised expression before tapping his right fist onto his left palm. "TerminalIdiot! Your voice was familiar as well."

I laughed and extended my hand for a shake. "It's great that there was no misunderstanding. And it would be better to call me Exin instead."

He reciprocated the handshake. "In that case please just call me Kirito."

_He's a lot younger than I thought, around fifteen, maybe younger. Completely different from his earlier avatar, but then again I'm not one to talk since I was farther away from my true looks before._

Now that the awkwardness was seemingly out of the way it was easier to keep the conversation going. "So Kirito, what have you been doing lately? Because all I've been doing is killing trash mobs left and right."

He casually shrugged and said, "Nothing much really, just doing a lot of grinding. I need to get my levels up to prepare for future fights."

"Same same," I said with a nod.

Then Kirito looked at me with a quizzical expression before saying, "What I'm curious about though, is your armor. What is it? Is it a monster drop? I've never really heard of any kind of special armor in the beta."

"Nothing special really," I answered with a tilt of my head. "It's called the Canis Minor Set. I had it made at an Armorer this morning, all I did was farm the materials and pay the Col."

"F-farm those materials?" it seemed like he was disbelieving of that piece of information. "Isn't that a lot? Wolf Pelts have a 25% chance of dropping, and how many did you need?"

"Almost a hundred." I replied immediately. "I have some extra, do you want some?"

"...No thank you." a slightly bewildered expression remained in his face as he said this, but I let go of the topic.

Speaking of… "Hey, you said that that was the second attempt at acquiring the Anneal Blade. Who was the first?"

The younger boy's response came in the form of a point in the direction of the blacksmith who was just finishing up a one-handed sword. _Yeah, that's the one. It looks the same as the sword that guy from earlier was brandishing. Not particularly nice looking, but if it can kill then it works _"I'm the first to get it," he said. "but that guy's the third one to get the quest."

His words hung in the air as his unspoken meaning gave us dark thoughts. It may be that the second person to try the quest really died here in SAO and safely returned to the real world, happy to be alive. Or he really died, and his family is mourning a loss that was caused my the machinations of a false god.

We didn't speak more about that topic as the blacksmith called the both of us over, having finished doing his job. Both our swords were hung on a rack near the front of the shop, mine a foot longer than Kirito's sword.

_Heh, mine's bigger. I'd say this joke out loud but we're not at that point yet._

"Hey Exin," Kirito called. "would you like to party with me? Even if only temporarily."

I blinked at his offer, surprised. He didn't look like the type to just ask help out of nowhere.

It seemed my silence was taken as a question because he continued. "It's just that I intend to farm Nepents in the forest at night. I think I'm doing okay right now during the daytime, but at night there are greater numbers and it would be safer and more efficient with two players."

A grin came on my face, "On one condition."

"Yes?" he asked, hesitation showing a little bit. _He probably thinks I want more loot, or a pick at the rewards._

"I'll need your help for the scabbard quest on the third floor." I finished casually.

"...And?"

I tilted my head at him. "That's about it. We split the loot 50-50, like normal of course. If something drops to you that you can't use, I'll trade you something for it provided it's useful for me as well. But this is normal Party Rules right?"

Kirito nodded, his suspicions alleviated.

And so we went.

For a few days, Kirito and I led nocturnal lives. Sleeping all day, waking up just to eat before going back to rest. We both had separate places to stay, so we had to meet up at the town gates at dusk. And we'd grind some disgusting looking plant monsters all the way to dawn. With half-hour breaks every three hours of course.

The loot was great, lots of the common stuff which I could sell. But sadly of the five times we encountered the Flower Bearing Nepents, we only got one flower. Usually because we weren't quick enough to kill the walking garden nightmare before the flower grew into a fruit. And fruit-bearing Nepents were tricky because hitting the fruit will attract more Nepents.

But we used that to our advantage. Kirito taught me how to pace them, killing the fruit bearer last in a group so the next will arrive just as we finished up. This allows us long periods of monster plant-killing sprees that sometimes last for a whole hour.

I learned a bit about Kirito on those four nights. He can dodge and deflect strikes well, usually deferring to sidesteps or parrying. He does rely on stronger strikes, which would be quite telegraphing in real life. But this was SAO, where Sword Strikes are glowing lights which basically tell you 'I'll cut your head off'.

Compared to him, I kept moving. When I wasn't using sword skills I was employing side spins while cutting, so that I could deal damage as well as prevent the enemy from pinpointing where I was. My method might need some polishing since I was basically copying a fictional fighting style whose primary motions were to spin and getting dizzy was not a good excuse to receive damage. It'd probably better to be fancy with Sword Skills instead.

On the morning of November 20, a Sunday, Kirito and I agreed to split paths. He was heading to another town on the northwestern end of the floor, while I was heading east back to Medai for my last visit to the old peddler before going north from there.

But before that, we had to meet up with Argo who had sent both of us a message to meet last night.

"At first I was surprised," Kirito said. "that you knew Argo. But then I remembered that she and your brother worked together back in the beta."

I shrugged, "Same here. But then I kinda realized that if she claims to be an Information Broker, then she has to know all the important ones."

"Sometimes she gets incredibly pricey." Kirito said with a conspiratorial grin.

I returned his look with a curious one, leaning a bit in his direction. "Oh? Please expound on that experience."

The black-haired boy cupped his chin. "It was on the fourth floor back in the beta, and I wanted to buy the information to a sword schematic. And she sold it to me for 15,000! It was fraud!"

I was able to spare a chuckle but because of my curiosity I had to ask, "That's very high. Are prices for schematics really that expensive?"

"Of course~!" said an indignant voice from behind us. "Schematics are expensive because they can't be made, although they can be reused~. But you have to find them in the floors yourself~. And I based my prices on supply and demand you know~! Kii-bou is so mean~. Talking about girls behind their back like that~."

Argo herself entered our field of vision by clinging to Kirito's arm. Normally I'd have seen her coming if I was in Kirito's position at the corner of the wall, but seeing them now I was kinda glad I had a wall behind me.

The two of us greeted the new arrival, who immediately went to business. "I have something to give you two, here~."

She passed a small book. It was about as big as a dictionary, with a brown leather cover, and the name 'Guide Book' in english etched on the left cover. I opened it and didn't suppress my smile when I found all of the info I gave in the book, accompanied by info from other sources as well. There was even a written tutorial on how to fight using Sword Skills, Maps of the first five floors, known Item locations, mob territories, and so forth.

"It has everything!" exclaimed Kirito to much to Argo's pride.

I hummed and said "Not everything. It lacks 'Comprehensive' or 'The Complete' in the title."

Argo just scoffed and said with a playful smirk, "You think you're so funny~. Anyway, thank you for your time boys and especially Termi-kun for the majority of the information~. I have to go, business doesn't wait for me you see~. Gossip to trade, secrets to sell, and so on~."

And as Argo disappeared once again in that uncanny way of hers, Kirito looked at me to ask as he waved the little book, "Most of the information here is yours?"

I gave a nod in response. "I memorized everything my brother was able to gather from the beta, and a few days ago Argo sought me out to ask for it."

"I see." Kirito said as he pocketed his book.

Looking at the time, I saw that it was already past 8. And if I wanted to get a decent amount of grinding done before I arrived at Medai, then I have to get going. I placed the book in one of the empty pockets attached to my belt and turned to Kirito. I started to say something but Kirito beat me to it.

"See you next time Exin." the black-haired swordsman said as he dissolved the party and walked away. "Don't be reckless, that means death to a solo player."

"Yeah, I could tell you the same thing!"

Later that day I stumbled back into Medai, my health in the red once again, and I was panting like the many mutts that I slaughtered. Players have already arrived in this town, and they were looking at me with either shock at my near-dead state, or in pity that a person like me would be heavily damaged by a bunch of dogs.

_Well I'd pay money to watch them handle what I just went through._

The reason for my disgraceful state was because I had strayed into Gnoll territory, and I was momentarily surprised facing my first enemies that used weapons. However rudimentary, since gnolls were in the Stone Age at best. They managed to tag-team me against a pack of Dire Wolves, luckily my superior armor was able to soak up the majority of the damage.

Since it was still around 6pm I headed for the General Store and sold off the bulk of today's loot, and bought some health potions with the Col earned. But I did not drink any of them, and I also sent all the potions to my inventory. Instead, I went straight for the old peddler again.

When she spotted me around the corner, she abruptly rushed over with potion and poultice in hand. "What happened boy? What has injured you so?" She then handed me the potion to drink and applied the poultice to the biggest red gash on my back.

I answered her after I drank her potion. "I was ambushed by a group of gnolls on the path here. I barely escaped with my life, but there is no need to worry. I am alright now, I assure you."

She pursed her lips, not entirely believing what I said. But she simply nodded and returned beside her stall, and a golden exclamation mark appeared above her head.

Smiling to myself, I approached her and said "You seem troubled. What's the matter?"

She turned towards me, before looking sadly at the products she was selling. "I had a son who was like you. And every day he returned battered from battle…" She then narrated the story of her son who was a warrior, not by choice but by necessity. She said he wanted to be a scholar, studying to improve the lives of his fellow man in some big city. But that was a path he could not follow as he was obligated to join the local militia to protect Medai from the roving bands of Gnolls that sometimes hunted on the roads. And so the first time her son arrived close to death, the old woman took it upon herself to learn the ways of medicine so that she could treat her dear son's sounds every time he comes back. She saved his life nine times. But her son never made it back for the tenth.

"I see my son in you," she said softly, her eyes moist in nostalgic sorrow. "he still around I am sure you would get along."

_Her emotions are terribly accurate. _I thought. _Kudos to the animator and the writer of this quest, I'm actually sad._

"Tell me, swordsman," she said with a pause. For effect of course. "are you confident in your strength? Can you give an old woman her respite by killing the beasts who killed my boy? Will you come back hale and victorious?"

I was drawn by the mood, so I stood straight and brought my right fist to my heart, and took a deep breath before reciting the lines to accept the quest and with some added flavor. "I shall undertake this quest of yours, and return to you with the head of the enemy's worst. This I promise you."

_A bit over the top yeah?_

A prompt appeared on my upper left with three objectives.

[ ] Kill 25 Gnolls

[ ] Return with 'Gnoll Warchief' head (Optional)

[ ] Do not lose more that 50% Health Points (Optional)

_Nice._

* * *

**Sup! It's me the real TerminalIdiot.**

**I hope I did this chapter well, I really want to give SAO some justice. I am aware I've made some mistakes somewhere but my experience at this point means I cant spot those yet.**

**Please also note that my reference for this fic is only the anime and the light novel, I have no access to the Sword Art Online Progressive series and thus I don't really have any idea what goes on in there other than what I can find in the Wiki.**

**Please follow, favourite and review!**

**Also if ever my character gets kinda Gary Stu, please tell me so that I may find a way to correct that.**

**Thank you all, and expect the next chapter at around two weeks' time.**


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